Ch. 11

Dark Lady Spotted in Knockturn Alley

Story by Rita Skeeter

The infamous Dark Lady, Tori Mars, was seen just the other day shopping in Knockturn Alley. As I am sure my loyal readers know, Knockturn Alley is famous for catering towards the darker elements of the magicing world. Many times I have pleaded with the Ministry of Magic to shut down that sleazy aspect, but my cries go unheeded. This gallent reporter can only wonder what the Bride of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was shopping for?

Tori threw the paper across the room after she read the list of possible torture devices she was apperently buying. Of all the stupid things to accuse her of! She had been in the alley to find books on defense spells for her sons. Now, an innocent trip was turned into something dark and foul.

If she had that Skeeter woman here, right now, she'd strangle her!

Rubbing her temples, Tori headed to her kitchen to make a cup of hot cocoa and a calming draught. In the attic, she could hear owls delivering mail and the envelopes with curses exploding. Ever since Skeeter had outed her as the Dark Lady, Tori had been recieving death threats, curses, and hexes. No place in England was safe for her anymore.

A glittering box on the table caught her attention. It was small, wrapped in green paper. A small note lay beside it. Curious, Tori picked up the note and smiled. Sloane's father had written to her. Back when they were together, he had often left her little gifts and notes, only to pretend that night that he had no idea what he had given her. He never signed the notes, but she knew they were from him.

My dearest, I am sorry that these times must be so trying on you. I hope that this helps brighten you day.

It was signed with a single green heart.

Tori opened the box to find a beautiful emerald heart necklace. She was so intent on the note and gift that she never saw the snake slithering out the kitchen door.

The days to the first task seemed to slip by far more rapidly then what would be normal. Harry was almost certain that all the clocks in the world had been charmed to move twice as fast. He mostly spent his free time in the library, poring over books on spells and defense. Professor Lupin and his mom had sent a few books that they thought might come in handy, even though no one knew what his first task was. Harry would scream bloody murder if he did all this work and the first task was freshly caught Cornish Pixies!

"Apparently, you're not the only one with this plan of attack," Sloane commented, sliding in to the seat next to Harry. When Harry looked up, Sloane pointed to Krum, who was sitting a few tables down, his nose in a book.

"He seems to come in here a lot." Hermione commented. "It's annoying, really. All those girls who want his autograph. I can't concentrate."

Harry grinned, flipping through the book he was reading. "Say, Sloane, any word from your father?"

Sloane shook his head. He hadn't heard anything from his father since Tori had sent the news that Sloane's heart could now be cured. He had hoped that with this news, he'd be able to talk more with his father, but all lines of communication had been cut. Not even Snape would deliver a message to or for Sloane.

"Do you think dad still loves mom?" Sloane asked. "Is he just agreeing to heal me so that mom won't have any reason to contact him?"

Harry shook his head. "Don't think like that. He must love you enough to want you to live a full life. What he feels for mom might no longer be love, but he must feel something."

"There's always Christmas. He might still send me a card." Sloane said.

Hermione stretched. "Are you two coming to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Harry nodded. He and Sloane had gotten written permission from their mom to visit Hogsmeade village with their class. Though Sirius had given Harry permission as his godfather, but Harry knew that Tori would only be angered if he had used that.

"I can't wait. Draco's promised to show me around." Sloane said.

Hermione snorted. "Great."

The next day, Harry stayed by Hermione's side. Students who were rooting for Cedric harassed him, but he tried to ignore them. That night, he would be able to talk to Sirius and hopefully get some answers. Hermione had promised to sit up with him, and Sloane told him to be careful.

While he and Hermione were relaxing in the Three Broomsticks, a rather popular tavern in Hogsmeade, Hagrid and Moody approached them.

"Say, 'Arry, meet me tonight, around midnight. OK?" Hagrid whispered.

"I can't, Hagrid. I swore a blood oath last year to obey the rules. Being out after curfew would get me in trouble." Harry said.

"I'll meet you, Hagrid. I didn't swear an oath." Hermione told him. Hagrid realized that he'd have to take that, especially since Harry was close-lipped over who he had signed the blood oath with.

Their only other visitor to their table was Sloane, who dragged Draco. With a grin, Sloane handed over the latest letter from Don Guerra. It turned out that the Italian Ministry was lodging a formal complaint about the harsh treatment of Tori in Rita's articles. Rita had written a few articles last year featuring Tori and the Guerra family felt that it was a debasement of her character. They demanded that a formal apology be made.

"I told Sloane that I doubt anything will come of it, Potter," Draco sneered as Harry read the letter. "However, I do agree that it will make Rita Skeeter think twice about ever doing a story on you again."

"I could only be so lucky," Harry muttered.

That night, Hermione borrowed Harry's cloak and slipped out of the Common Room. Harry studied different blocking spells as he waited for Hermione and Sirius. He wondered if he could ever get Lupin to contact him this way, thinking it would be nice to talk to his ex-Professor. Lupin's last letter had stated that he was now mailing Tori on a regular basis.

Hermione came back a few minutes before Sirius was scheduled to appear. She told Harry, breathlessly, that she had seen what the first task would be.

"Dragons, Harry. They're planning on pitting you against dragons!"

Harry stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure!"

"Did you have to use the word, 'dead'?"

Just then, the flames in the fireplace roared to life. Sirius' head was in the flames, watching him. Harry had a feeling that the message would come by Floo. He only hoped that Sirius was in a comfortable position, since that could be murder on the knees.

"Sirius, hi! How are you?" Harry asked, kneeling down to see him better. Sirius had fleshed out a bit and his black hair was now short and clean. He looked years younger then he had when Harry had last seen him.

"Never mind me. How are you?" Sirius said seriously.

Before he could stop himself, Harry told him everything from being named a Triwizard Champion to his fight with Ron to that stupid article to the first task.

"Dragons, Sirius. Hermione wouldn't lie to me." Harry cried.

"It's true. I saw them." Hermione said.

"Hello Hermione. I wasn't aware that you'd be here." Sirius said. There was something in his voice that told Harry that he had expected Harry to be alone.

Hermione smiled. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late, Harry."

Sirius waited until she had left before looking back at Harry. "Harry, I need to warn you about something."

"What?"

"Karkaroff," Sirius said. "He's a Death Eater. You do know what those were, right?"

"Of course I know."

Sirius nodded. "Of course. I almost forgot who raised you." Harry was about to protest when Sirius continued. "Karkaroff spent some time in Azkaban, but he was released. He named names and they let him go. Moody was the one who caught him."

"So, you think Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet?" Harry asked.

"I don't think he did, but he is a good actor since he's fooled the Ministry." Sirius said. Harry kept his opinion of the Ministry to himself. He personally felt that they were a bunch of incompetent fools who couldn't magic their way out of a wet paper bag.

"Another thing, Harry, is that I fear that Voldemort is growing stronger. He was last rumored to be in Albania and now a Ministry witch has vanished from there along with a friend of hers. She would have known about the Triwizard Tournament, so it's possible that Voldemort might know by now."

Harry's blood ran cold. Not because he was scared that Voldemort knew about the Tournament, but because of where Voldemort was hiding.

"Sirius, was the friend of the missing Ministry witch named May Albers?"

Sirius seemed to think a bit. "I think so. I know that the Ministry witch was Bertha Jenkins. I used to know her in school, not a real bright girl at times."

"May Albers is my aunt. She was supposed to go to Albania with a new friend and then head over to Greece. She never made it to Albania, they said." Harry told Sirius. "If he killed her, then I swear that I'll make him suffer!"

"Concentrate on staying alive, first." Sirius snapped. "Now, those dragons -"

"I think I have a plan. I've been reading defensive spells and such for months now. The dragon's weakest point is the eye, but depending on the species, there's a trick to getting one to like you." Harry said. "I'll have Hermione tell me what species she saw and I'll work it out."

Sirius humphed. "Well, good luck."

"Oh, say hi to Professor Lupin for me. If you see him, please." Harry said.

"Sure," Sirius agreed, but he sounded a little miffed. Harry figured that Sirius had thought that Harry would need his help and that the two of them would plot Harry's next move as Sirius had done with James.

Harry turned and went up to his dorm. It only dawned on him belatedly that it might be against the school rules to talk to people in the Floo. Or the information that he got from Hermione could be considered against the rules. He hoped that he would have enough time to talk to Professor Lupin and have him pretend that it was him in the Floo, in case Snape pressed the issue.

The next day, Harry began to try to find a way to defeat the dragons. Hermione filled him in on what kinds there were, and he researched those. He was rather stumped until Monday when he told Cedric about the first task and Moody caught him.

"It's all right, Potter. Now everyone is on the same level," Moody said. "That's very noble of you."

"Let me guess, noble, but against the rules?" Harry said.

"Yes,"

Harry sighed. Snape was going to kill him. He'd have detention if he wasn't expelled. Maybe he should have his mom come down and sweet talk Snape.

"The trick to beating the dragon, Potter, is using your strengths." Moody said.

"My greatest strengths are getting into trouble and Quidditch." Harry moaned.

Moody only smiled, which was a horrible sight. However, Harry understood what he meant. He could fly better then most people, so all he needed was a way to get his broom to him.

He and Hermione practiced the Summoning Charm for the rest of the day when they had free time. After only a few trials, he had mastered the spell. He felt better about the first task, actually believing that he might live through it.

At the First Task, which took place the next day, Harry was once again a jumble of nerves. A few Slytherians hissed that they would have a box of tissues ready for him. Sloane didn't make things any easier by telling Harry that he already had roses for him - real nice ones.

"The way I see it, if you die, then they'll look pretty on your grave," Sloane said, "but they'd look even better in your arms if you win."

"Do I get a little crown and some old fat guy singing 'Miss America'?" Harry groused.

"Of course not," Sloane gasped, looking surprised. "With your legs, you'd never have made it past the swimsuit competition."

When Harry was led to the tent with the other Champions, only Cedric seemed pleased to see him. Fluer was ignoring everyone and Krum looked surly.

Ludo Bagman brought a small velvet bag up to them. "Inside is your task and the number in which you will go. You have to collect the golden egg. Good luck!"

Fluer reached in first and pulled out a tiny model of the Welsh Green Dragon with a two around its neck. Krum got the Chinese Fireball with a number three and Cedric got the Swedish Short-Snout with the number one. That left the Hungarian Horntail with the number four for Harry. Oh joy.

The wait was killing Harry. He couldn't see what his opponents had done, but he could hear the reaction of the crowd. By the time it was his turn, he had gone over every breathing exercise at least three times.

Harry was led out to the field where the Hungarian Horntail was waiting at the other end. She was curled around a golden egg with a look in her eyes that matched the protective look that Tori often got. He really didn't want to have to tangle with this dragon.

He raised his wand. "Accio Firebolt!"

There were a few tense seconds before his Firebolt flew to his hand. He mounted and was off. The dragon tried to bring him down with fire and that deadly tail of hers. However, Harry was already formulating a plan.

"Great Scott, that boy can fly!" Bagman yelled. "Are you watching this Mr. Krum!"

"Look out for the tail, Daniel!" Sloane cried. He had been on the edge of his seat through the first task. Next to him, Draco gasped as Harry artfully swooped out of the way of the tail. The dragon shot fire at Harry and missed by inches. No one noticed that Sloane had grabbed on to Draco's arm in his fear for his brother. Draco really didn't have the heart to tell Slaone to let go as he watched what could wind up being the last moments of his enemy.

Harry went only close enough to be a threat, but not to warrant a blast of fire. He slowly moved back as she stretched out. It took some time, but he coaxed her away from the egg and he could dive down. In a flash, he had the egg in his arms and was speeding away from the dragon.

Professor McGonagall met him on the ground. "Excellent flying, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Harry was sent to the medical tent. It was only then did he notice that the dragon had gotten his arm with her tail. Adrenaline had blocked out the pain. It hurt now that he had seen it, though.

As Madam Pomfrey was fixing him up, Hermione and Ron came running into the tent, followed by Sloane.

"Harry," Ron started, looking serious, "whoever put your name in the Goblet, I think they must be trying to do you in!"

Sloane rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut. Harry was grateful for this, since he didn't relish his brother fighting with his best friend just when they were becoming friends again.

"Thanks Ron." Harry said.

Hermione burst into tears and Sloane comforted her. Harry didn't miss the sudden look of anger on Ron's face as Sloane wrapped his arms around Hermione, but it was gone almost immediately.

"Wait until mom hears about this," Harry said. "I bet she'll be thrilled to know I made it OK."

Sloane snorted, peering at Harry over Hermione's head. "You're lucky you didn't die. Mom would have delved into Necromancy to bring you back so she can ground you and then kill you herself."

Harry's laughter filled the tent. Everything was all right with the world.

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A/N: Hope you all liked that. One reviewer requested to see how Tori reacted to Skeeter's articals, so I added the beginning for that person. Written too fast to be perfect, but I hope you all like it.